Crap Towns / Greater Manchester / Golborne
Golborne
62/100Crap Score
373rd crappest of 984 towns, and 51st in Greater Manchester. Higher scores are crapper.
Have your say
Crap Town of the Year 2026/27
See the raceThe public vote. It's separate from the Crap Score, and it closes on 31 December 2027.
Letters from the locals
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agree it's crap have defended it
Golborne's getting a train. Finally.
They've wanted a station back since the old one shut. Now it's being built and the piling keeps everyone up.
Golborne's got a Warrington address and Wigan council, so it can blame either. It dug coal till the pit shut, and the old colliery land is called the Bonk. After years of asking they're building it a station, and the piling goes on through the night. You still can't get a bus straight into Manchester.
There's one public park in the whole town, and four in ten people live further than 400 metres from a park or play area. Something gets set alight nearly twice as often as in the typical town, and 2 of the 21 takeaways with a rating come in at 0 to 2 for hygiene.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Golborne's 84 for rain means it's crapper than 84% of towns.
- Rain84/100161 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Criminal damage and arson76/1009.2 per 1,000 people a year, July 2023 to June 2026
- Deliberate fires74/10010.4 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Food hygiene73/1004.4% rated 0 to 2, of the 115 food businesses with a rating
- Air pollution69/10010.7 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.9 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Anti-social behaviour66/10017.5 per 1,000 people a year, July 2023 to June 2026
- Serious road collisions51/1002.4 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Fly-tipping35/1008.4 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Wigan council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Sewage spills29/10090.4 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Broadband3/1001.4% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 3.5% across the Wigan council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 47 | Westhoughton | 68 |
| 48 | Lees | 67 |
| 49 | Ramsbottom | 65 |
| 50 | Marple | 64 |
| 51 | Golborne | 62 |
| 52 | Reddish | 60 |
| 53 | Stretford | 58 |
| 54 | Orrell | 56 |
| 55 | Stockport | 56 |
Golborne by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 89.5 crimes per 1,000 people a year (July 2023 to June 2026) Worse: 17% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 1 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 0.4 per 10,000 people, 88% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 1 serious pollution incident within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2024
What's left on the high street
- 8 pubs, 19 hairdressers, 1 charity shop, 2 bookmakers on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 9.5% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (2 of 21) Worse: 2.4x the typical town's 4.0%
- 2 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 0.8 per 10,000 people, 50% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 1 public swimming pool open Worse: 0.4 per 10,000 people, 43% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.40am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.4% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 20% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 40.5% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 2.6x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,454 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 5% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Wigan council
Have a crap-off
Golborne against your mate's town, and a match ticket to rub it in.
- ?Fly-tippingper 1,000, council area?
- ?Anti-social behaviourper 1,000 people?
- ?Serious road crashesper 10,000 people?
- ?Sewage spillshours per 10,000 people?
- ?Food hygienerated poor?
- ?Criminal damageper 1,000 people?
- ?Dirty airµg/m³?
- ?No gigabitof premises can't get it?
- ?Deliberate firesper 10,000 people?
- ?Raindays a year?
Ten ingredients. One verdict. Who's crapper? The higher Crap Score takes it.